Honda Insight - I'd shoot myself!

I stopped on my way home from work last Friday at a small golf store. I happened to park next to another Black Prius. I asked the guy behind the counter whose it was and he said it was one of the owners. When the owner came back to the front I asked him how he liked his Prius.

He said that it wasn't his Prius, he owned the 2012 Honda Insight which was parked a couple of spaces away. I asked him how he liked it. Proudly he said that he loved it and got 46 mpg. Kidding, I quickly said that if I got that bad a mileage with my Prius, I'd shoot myself.

He asked what kind of mileage I got and I told him that my last tank was 58 mpg. You should have seen the look on his face. He said the reason why he went with the Honda is because everyone had a Prius!

See change in RED.

Who is everyone.

Did you ask if he hypermiled or is that normal driving without hypermiling?

This has to be the most severe case of Dyslexia ever noted! His friends had Prius, he wanted a Prius, so he went to the Honda dealer!
That 58 MPG remark was perfect!

Honda Insight also costs quite a few grand less and that a few grands would pay for a lot of gas.

I never insult other hybrid owners, even if they have an Insight <-> Prius dyslexia problem. An Insight is still a great FE leap over regular gassers.

True, but on hills it can't get out of it's own way. I work with a guy that has one and he hates driving it up the hill to our office ( 3850' climb over 20 miles)

My coffee buddy's son has a Honda Insight and gets 37-39 mpg in Minneapolis commute, He is not happy, has had it for about two years. He wanted the Honda because it look like a real car? not different like the Prius. He is sorry about His choice but lives with it, but He does complain a bit!

Base Prius MSRP=$24,000 (50 MPG)
Base Insight MSRP=$18,500 (43 MPG)

If someone drove 15,000 miles per year with gas costing $3.60 the break even point would be over 31 years. This is of course without any hypermiling techniques.
I think this illustrates the point that if someone is buying the Prius for financial reasons only, that hypermiling is an ABSOLUTE must.

"I think this illustrates the point that if someone is buying the Prius for financial reasons only, that hypermiling is an ABSOLUTE must."

You can also hypermile an Insight, so the difference will still be in the narrow 6-7 mpg range.
You don't buy a $24000.00+ Prius for financial reasons only.

I've heard it's easier for most people to do a little better with the Prius given some of the same hypermiling techniques, but have never had the pleasure of driving an Insight myself to confirm this.

Also, I think you'd be surprised how many Prius owners think it's the absolute best choice financially.

Our public school system has failed to teach math.

on the whole, the actual selling prices of the two cars has been closer than msrp and there are many more advantages to the prius than just mpg's. funny, two comments i never thought i would hear, 'everyone drives one' and, ' it looks like a real car'. i rarely see the insight around here and to me, it looks just like the prius. i have to look twice because i thought i saw a prius, but something was not quite right.

He said that he was very careful when he drove. When I asked him if he did P&G, he didn't know what it was until I explained it. Basically it sounded like he tried to accelerate carefully and glided into stops.

See my change in my original post. I was in a hurry when I posted it and didn't proof read for clarity. I meant that everyone drives a Prius and he wanted something different. Sorry for the confusion!

I looked at an Insight before I purchased my 2010 Prius two years ago. The Prius is a larger car with much better acceleration. It is far more comfortable and will actually carry four people comfortably. Plus I average a little more than 50MPG, with a lead foot (I have 85,000 miles on my Prius) and the Insight does not get what Honda claims. At least in 2010 you could not get an Insight with many of the options the Prius provides. Yes, the Insight is a cheaper car, but it is much less car as well.

IIRC the Insight cannot run on electric alone, I think the engine is always running when you're moving and only turns off after you stop. It's a motor assist, stop-start system with regenerative braking.
Apparently the ride is harsh and the performance is lacklustre as well.

I would assume you can glide with the ICE off otherwise it might not get as good of FE as it gets.

Nope. The ICE is on as long as the vehicle is in motion, at least with the CVT version. Don't know about the manual version when you throw it into N while coasting.

Wow, I'm very impressed it gets that good of FE then.